


To brotherhood, for family

by somefangirl



Series: Friends and Family [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Brotherhood, Gen, Light Angst, Nakamaship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2014-07-23
Packaged: 2018-02-10 03:37:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2009472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somefangirl/pseuds/somefangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every year, on the anniversary of the day Ace, Sabo, and Luffy became brothers, they drink to renew their promise and remember those who are important.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To brotherhood, for family

**Two Xs (XX) means a time skip**

**One X (X) means a location change**

* * *

 

"We should do things like that more often" Luffy said, following his brothers. Brothers! They were his brothers now! Today, the three boys had sworn an oath, binding them as brothers.

"Like what?" Sabo asked.

"Uhhhhh... How about, every year, we do this again?" Luffy suggested. "Like an... any-verse-array?"

"Do you mean anniversary?"

"Yeah, so on our... what you said... we drink again, to renew our promise" Luffy said, showing seriousness that was rare from the boy.

"Fine, but next year, one of you are stealing the sake from Dadan." Ace said. Sabo and Luffy smiled.

**XX**

' _Hard to believe it's been a year_ ' Ace sighed. They had all promised to do this every year, but now it was a little upsetting: Their three had become two. Luffy insisted though, because Sabo would want them to do the toast again anyway. So, even though they were missing a boy, Ace (who had to steal the sake again) poured each of the two a drink in the small red cups they had before. "To brotherhood!"

**X**

Sabo was having slight trouble getting sake on that day. He needed to, though, because they had decided that they would do this on their anniversary. He put his skills as a thief to the test, sneaking into the kitchen to steal a bottle. ' _I won't need all of it... just a little bit..._ ' he thought to himself. He managed to sneak out without being noticed, and hid in a closet. It was a roomy closet. He sat down and poured himself a cup, toasting to the air: "To brotherhood!"

**XX**

Ace was really surprised when he read the newspaper. It was ASL Day (as Luffy had named it) and he had come so close to missing it! He ran directly to the kitchen, ignoring the people who had to dive to get out of his way, using his devil fruit to pass through those who didn't make it in time. Once in the kitchen, the chefs tried to shoo him out ("Dinner's not ready yet! Get out!") but he just plowed through, stealing a bottle of sake and a red cup. He attempted to run to the crow's nest, but was stopped by Marco.

"What was that? One second, you were looking at the newspaper, then you suddenly made a mad dash for the kitchen?"

"It's, uh, nothing. Could you move, this is important"

"Your words contradict themselves"

"It's something I have to do, or else I'll be disappointing my little brother" Marco realized this was probably the best he would get from Ace, and stepped aside so he could get to the crow's nest. He stood at the bottom, waiting for Ace to come down. He thought he faintly heard something like "To brotherhood!" come from the crow's nest, but it could've just been his imagination.

**X**

Luffy was in big trouble. He was caught stealing sake from Dadan, and she wasn't happy about it.

"I thought you didn't like alcohol! Besides, you can't take mine!" she yelled at the boy, who still held the bottle in his hand. He glanced at the door, which was behind him. ' _For brotherhood!_ ' he thought, running away from Dadan and out the door. When Luffy reached the ocean, he figured he'd run far enough. He sat down and opened the bottle. He poured it into the cup, and yelled to the sea:

"To brotherhood!"

**X**

Sabo had just drank the sake when Koala opened the closet door, revealing Sabo's little hiding place.

"Who are you talking to?" she asked "I heard you yelling" Sabo just smiled.

"My brothers"

**XX**

Luffy had been asking Nami about the date for a week now. He was really excited for something. His birthday, maybe? Finally, he got the date he had apparently been waiting for, and ran off smiling. Nami watched, and ran off to the kitchen, and he was promptly kicked out (literally) by Sanji. He wasn't discouraged, though, and tried again. He got the same result, and eventually went over to Zoro who was sleeping by the mast. Nami, who wanted to know what Luffy had been so excited about, went over to eavesdrop.

"...some sake?" Luffy asked Zoro, though Nami only heard the last half of the question. Zoro sighed, he didn't want to get up. But Luffy just stared at him with puppy-dog eyes, and Zoro sighed again.

"I'll get you some, though I thought you didn't drink alcohol?"

"Today is special!" Luffy explained. Zoro got up, and came back a few minutes later with a bottle of it. "Thank you Zoro!" Luffy yelled, running off to the men's quarters. Nami watched as he came back out a few seconds later with a red cup, then sat in the middle of the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny. Usopp, Franky, Chopper and Brook stopped what they were doing to watch their captain. Robin looked up from her book and Zoro looked up from his nap (which he had resumed the second Luffy had walked away), and Sanji had even walked out of the galley to see what he was doing. Oblivious to all the attention he was getting from his odd behavior, Luffy poured himself a cup, toasting to the air.

"To brotherhood!" he yelled out, then drank the cup. Then, as if nothing had happened, he got up and walked over to see what Usopp, Chopper, Franky and Brook were doing, leaving the sake and the cup in the middle of the deck. Zoro, later that day, picked up the bottle from the deck, and drank a little of the bottle. Nami noticed this, and took the bottle from him. Without explanation, she drank a some too. Usopp walked over, silently taking a sip of the alcohol, and Chopper joined in too. Robin, followed by Sanji, walked over, each taking a drink from the bottle. Brook took the bottle next, then passed it to Franky, who drank it, then poured a bit on the deck of the ship. Luffy, noticing that everyone had gathered, ran over. He was passed the bottle, which had enough left for one final drink. He just smiled, and took it.

"I guess this makes us family" he said. "Happy ASL Day!"

**XX**

"Luffy, what are doing?" Raleigh asked, as Luffy suddenly stopped training.

"What's today's date?" he asked, surprising the old pirate. When he told Luffy, the rubberman asked an even more surprising follow-up question: "Do you have any sake?" Raleigh was caught off guard by the question, but shook his head.

"No, I don't think so" he said. "Why?" Luffy just frowned.

"But I need it today. It's ASL Day" He said. Raleigh had never heard of any such holiday, but didn't question it.

"I could... go get some from Hancock?"

"Can you get a cup too? A red one. It has to be red." He said, a little sternly when he spoke of the color. Raleigh chuckled at how serious the teen sounded about the color of the cup, but went off the retrieve the items anyway. Upon returning, Luffy took the sake and the cup, running off yelling "Thank you!" He came back a few minutes later, without either of the objects he had run off with. His face looked puffy and red, and his cheeks looked a little wet, though Raleigh pretended not to notice. He wondered what Luffy had been doing.

"Ok, I'm ready now. We can go back to training again." Luffy informed him. Raleigh went back to showing him how to use the technique they had been working on, but mentally recorded the date.

**X**

Luffy had run right to the edge of the island, so he was sitting by the sea. A first there had been three, then two, and now there was just one. Him. He poured his cup, and held it in the air, the way he had so many times before. But before, someone had always done it with him. Maybe they hadn't been sitting next to him, but they had been there. Now, he felt as if there was no one. He could feel tears on his cheeks as he yelled out the infamous line for the toast: "To brotherhood!" He wondered if his brothers could join in his toast in the after life. He figured they probably could. And they probably did. He put the cup and bottle on a rock by the edge of the forest. He sat by the ocean for a minute and mourned his brothers. He remembered his crew, and then calmed down enough to stop crying. He wiped his face and ran back to Raleigh with renewed energy.

**X**

Sabo wondered how his brother was doing today. He knew Luffy thought he was dead, and of course he knew Ace was dead too. Luffy thought he had no more brothers in the world. Sabo had been training very hard since Ace's death, so he could be stronger. Dragon hadn't let him go to the war at Marineford because he hadn't been strong enough. He was on his way to grab a bottle of sake, it was The Anniversary after all, when he was stopped by Nico Robin.

"It's that day, right?" she asked him. He was surprised she had known about it, but she was in Luffy's crew. He had told her before that Luffy was his younger brother. "Wasn't it called ASL Day?" she asked. Sabo laughed at the name.

"Is that what he called it?" he asked "But yes, that's today." She smiled.

"Can I join you?" she asked. Sabo was, once again, surprised by the pirate, but nodded. She followed him as he walked to the closet, which had become the spot he had gone to every year on this day (ASL Day, as Luffy had named it. Sabo was going to call it that from now on). He pulled out a red cup from a shoe box towards the back of the closet, dusting it off and opening the bottle. He poured himself a drink, setting the bottle down and holding up his cup. He yelled his toast, "To brotherhood!" and drank the sake. Robin picked up the bottle, holding it up in a similar way that Sabo had. "For family" she said, and drank just a sip. She got up and left the closet, and Sabo watched her pour the rest overboard.

**X**

The rest of Luffy's crew was doing similar rituals. Each of them, throughout the day, thought of the moment that Luffy had toasted to his brother. Now that Luffy's brother was gone, when Luffy toasted, he would be alone. His crew wouldn't let him be alone again. Zoro found a quiet moment in the morning, right before training. Nami ran right out of a lesson to grab a bottle. Usopp had been practicing with a few plant projectiles when he suddenly asked Hercules'un if he had any sake. Sanji found a minute to himself that day, a moment where he wasn't being chased, to toast. Chopper had been right about to go to sleep when he suddenly sprung out of bed and asked then nearest person for a bottle. Franky had been in the middle of working with a new cannon when he suddenly stopped working and began searching for sake. Brook was in the middle of a concert when he stopped singing and asked the crowd if anyone had a bottle they hadn't opened yet. Each of them opened the bottle, yelled a toast, drank just a sip, and poured the rest out. And each of their toasts were: "For family!"

**X**

To answer Luffy's earlier question, yes, Ace could join his toast in the afterlife. Ace had came and sat by Luffy as he toasted, then watched him mourn. He couldn't talk to the boy, tell him he was being a cry baby, to stop crying, to stop being sad, to just stop because it's not Luffy's fault Ace died and it hurt to see him cry just sto- Luffy stopped sniffling. He wiped his face off and ran away, leaving the cup and bottle by the shore. Ace couldn't talk to Luffy, but he could pick up a cup. He poured himself a drink (though he missed the cup on the first try. What? Being a ghost was hard!), toasting 'To brotherhood!' though no one could hear him. He attempted to drink the sake, but it went through him. It's the thought that counts, right? Ace put the cup and bottle back where Luffy had left them, then disappeared back to the afterlife.

**Author's Note:**

> This one came from the headcanon that Luffy drinks on the anniversary of the first promise. Well, I decided I love that headcanon, but who says it has to end there? Ace and Sabo can do it too, and the whole crew can join in!   
> Tell me what you thought in the comments, and subscribe to the series for more (complete unrelated) oneshots like this one! Suggestions are always welcome!


End file.
